Divining the line during Holy Week

Reminding ourselves who Christians are fighting.

Mar 30, 2026

Five hundred twenty years before the birth of Jesus, the Hebrew prophet Zechariah prophesied his entry into Jerusalem: “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The Apostle John recorded the event in the gospels, John 12: “The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Blessed is the king of Israel!’”

Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In those days, Judea was a minor province in the Roman Empire, ruled by a tetrarch under the authority of a Roman governor. The Roman system generally allowed far-flung provinces to worship as they pleased, as long as they paid their taxes to the empire and did not create problems. The Judeans were a continual problem for Rome. The people had some kind of belief that a Messiah, a savior, a King, would arise at God’s own command, and His arrival would herald the revival of the Kingdom of Israel as in the days of Solomon.

The Romans allowed the religious and political leaders of Judea to maintain a modest militia, a police force to keep local order, enforce temple taxes, and to provide security for the Sanhedrin and the tetrarch. But the ultimate authority was Rome and its legions. When Jesus arrived to Jerusalem days before the Passover, the people, who had heard of (and many had seen) his miracles, believed their King had some, to lead them from under the boot of Rome. They believed that the King of Israel had power to summon angels, strike down enemies, and conquer in the name of the Lord.

They were absolutely right.

Yet they were fighting the wrong battle. Jesus had come to overthrow the kingdom of the prince of the power of the air, the devil. In the wilderness, Jesus met Satan and endured testing and temptation. The devil tempted him to turn rocks into bread, which would have been simple for the Son of God; he tempted Jesus to hurl himself from the top of the Temple and allow angels to save his physical body; he offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world.

These things were all promised by God: provision, protection, and victory. The devil was not offering Jesus anything that the Father had not already promised. But Jesus did not come to fight the physical battle. He came to win the battle in the spiritual realm. After his betrayal and arrest, Jesus told the Roman governor, Pilate, “my kingdom is not of this world.” Pilate could not comprehend a kingdom that was not part of the world he knew.

After questioning Jesus, Pilate told the crowd gathered outside his palace, “I find no basis for a charge against him.” It was custom for the Roman governor to grant mercy and release one prisoner before the Passover. Pilate asked the crowd, “Do you want me to release the king of the Jews?” The crowd answered, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Barabbas was a terrorist, a rebel who was part of an uprising against Rome.

Judeans wanted a political, military king, one who would throw off Rome and defeat their enemies. They couldn’t comprehend the spiritual war because they had moved far from God. No prophet had come to the Jews since Haggai, about 400 years earlier. There was no revival of religion. There was ossification, rites, rituals, rabbinic rulings; there were sects, denominations, competing beliefs. There was division, dry religion. Other than the priests who entered the Temple, and the one priest chosen each year to enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement for all Israel, the Spirit of God rarely moved, because the Lord found few hearts willing to yield.

The coming of John the Baptist marked the first major move of the Holy Spirit that anyone living in the days of Jesus had seen. And it scared the religious authorities that people were following John’s call to repentance, because that kind of radical repentance did not line up with any of the major sects’ religious doctrine.

I want to apply those ancient times to today’s political, world, and religious climate. It’s Holy Week, when Christians are to reflect on Christ’s ministry, miracles, and ultimately, His crucifixion and resurrection on Easter.

The United States is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible (and don’t waste your time arguing about trivia or complicated references, non-orthodox theology, or non-canon books). We are not intended to be part of any story or narrative related to God’s people, His promises, or the fulfillment of His will at the end of all things. That of course doesn’t mean we are not part of God’s plan in some way: the U.S. has sent more missionaries than any other nation in Christian history. It also doesn’t mean we don’t have a role in God’s will. We are simply not the center of it, nor are we relevant in a way that would include America directly in prophetic writings or Christ’s own prophesies. I would say that the U.S. falls under “to the ends of the earth” in terms of the Gospel.

However, the U.S., in physical terms of this world, is the most powerful hyperpower the world has ever seen. To the modern world, we are the Roman empire at the height of its power, with the ability to project unbelievable force anywhere we want. The Romans had a large navy, and their legions could march, engineer, and conquer nearly at will. Rome had not yet peaked at the time of Jesus, but it was near its apogee in terms of power in the western world.

There are two battles happening here, with some overlap between the seen world and the “not of this world.” The most ancient and embedded “powers and principalities” of the devil’s princedom are in modern day Iran and Iraq. The Bible refers to this as “Babylon.” In geographic terms, Babylon is about 50 miles south of Baghdad, but the Babylonian empire rivaled the Persian empire during ancient times. Both of these parts of the world are locked in a deep battle between mighty spiritual forces. The battle is for the souls and minds of people, and affects us all around the world.

We are fighting a physical battle with the evil Iranian regime, which deeply believes in its cause and believes it to be righteous and worth the sacrifice of countless innocent lives. We are also invested in our own internal politics and strife. The religious authorities are ossified, more interested in their own power, protecting their ministry, and defending their doctrine, than they are in pure revival of God’s will.

The Bible has references to this sort of time, which in prophecy is called “the days of Noah.” Matthew quoted Jesus about the time of the return of the Son of God: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:36-39.) The “days of Noah” were days of extreme wickedness, when everyone did what was right in their own eyes. It was a time when God, in his regret, destroyed all of humanity except Noah and his family, and started over.

There will be a time when the Lord returns and it will be another “starting over,” when the Holy Spirit will be withdrawn from those on the earth who remain under the veil of delusion, and the physical appearance of the Lord will cause all to acknowledge His Kingdom; “that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” (Philippians 2:10.) All of this is part of the battle in the spiritual realm, not of this world.

We may win every physical battle in this world, but the battle Jesus fought is not of this world. Jesus’ sacrificial death—he was not killed, he gave his life—and resurrection are not simply signs and wonders, they are the victory in the battle to defeat satan and death itself. No longer does the devil have any power over life and death, that belongs to Jesus, who sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven, awaiting His time. The battle was won, and there was never a doubt it would be won. Grace entered the world, and the Holy Spirit’s power is now directed to lifting the veil of delusion to reveal the love of God for all. This is the reason Jesus came; the reason for a thousand years of prophecy, to point us to the truth.

During Holy Week, keep in mind the nature of the battle that was won, the nature of the battle we now fight, and the nature of the battles we are fighting in the natural world. Fallen men and women, many who suffer under the delusion of false religious doctrine, or the doctrines of mankind, fight in wars under banners while in the spiritual realm, the messengers of God are battling for provision, protection, and victory.

The politicians we trust, or hate, are not our enemies. The evil regime in Tehran is not our enemy; they are acting under a banner and direction of the true enemy of Christians, the devil. Many who say they are operating in the name of the Lord are operating under that same banner of the devil. And in Iran, the fastest-growing church in the world is emerging from the persecution and chaos. These believers do not share the ossified and ritualistic religion that has become in large part “Christendom” in the world. They are trusting in the Father, and in the love of the Son, to attain a better Kingdom. They are not our enemies, they are our brothers and sisters.

Democrats, Republicans, Palestinians, Somalis, Haitians, Mexicans, Honurans, Chinese, Tibetan, Iranian, Israeli, French, Russian, all over the world, there are brothers and sisters in Christ. They are all over the political spectrum and live under vastly different governments. But they are all part of one Kingdom, the one not of this world.

Our enemies are not of this world, but they do act in this world, through those under their sway. Prayer and obedience to the will of God is the way these battles are fought. Death is not the ultimate punishment for the Christian, it is simply moving from the world to the Kingdom not of this world, for “to be away from the body and at home with the Lord,” as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:8, is a reward for the Christian and not to be feared.

Or as the lyrics say, the best the world can do is “threaten me with heaven.” Jesus came to Jerusalem to shouts of “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!” He will not return to Jerusalem until those words are spoken in truth once again.

The victory is won, in the battle for the Kingdom not of this world. There is only one way to join the victors in the most important battle, and that is to enter the Kingdom of God. There is only one way to join the Kingdom of God, and that is by adoption. There is only one path to adoption, by which we cry “Abba, Father!” and that is by the grace and love of the Son of God. He came for that purpose, so that all would have a clear path to the Father.

This world is fallen. We are in the days of Noah. Jesus said in John 6:47, “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.” This is the way. Not the political, military way, or the way of global power. It is only by the blood of Jesus, and by believing in Him.

During Holy Week, Christians should meditate on this and this alone. Am I walking in the Way? Am I a vessel for God’s love? Am I open to His will? Am I obedient to His commands? Have I remembered His sacrifice? Am I carrying my cross? Am I suffering along with Him? Is His victory mine?

He did it all for me, and for you, and to the ends of the earth. Not for politics, or power, or military victory, but for eternal life. If you don’t know this, ask God to show you. If you do know it, renew it in your heart. This is the heart of Holy Week in very troubled times.

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